IronFilm

A broader market appeal then means, more sales and thus: 1) more dollars to put into R&D to make even better products 2) more affordably priced products, because fixed costs can now be spread over a large number of units sold 3) a combo of both #1 & #2 above Bonus item: 4) more users to discover weird new bugs, that they can then push out firmware to fix. Making it less likely that you will be the first person to discover it!

I wouldn't underestimate the possibility of one day the AI being able to view a video feed and thus respond with tweaks to the mix. Won't happen this year, or even next year. But could it happen within my lifetime? I reckon it will at least be more likely than not be technically possible within my life.

Yeah, they only offer it in two options which is what the Shure transmitters have. (lemo & TA4F) I couldn't even use it with my Lectrosonics, without reterminating. Am a bit surprised they don't offer a pigtail option. I'm 100% sure it can be.

Whoops... never mind about my previous post! Although, give the Shure Duraplex DL4 a second thought, as not only does it promise to be waterproof, it also promises to be the most durable of all lav mics (it's literally put "Dura" into its name! Such as their confidence in it). Thus does it matter too much if at $300 it costs 3x but if it thus then manages to last 3x as long? (or heck, even if it "just" lasts 2x as long? As even though it's "more expensive per year", the small extra cost is worth not putting up with the hassle of a trashed lav mid shoot)

Have you also considered the new Shure Duraplex lavs? They only fairly recently came out, thus most people might not have heard of them. But one of their key points they advertise about them is their waterproof nature. Plus they're quite affordably priced (for pro grade lavs, relatively speaking). https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1596622-REG/shure_dl4w_o_mtqg_a_dl4_duraplex_omnidirectional_miniature.html

Do you have an X3, have you tried out the firmware update in 32bit?

When you currently have only one channel of Lectrosonics, it's overkill to put your 2nd channel in a completely different block. And as Karl mentions in that linked video, there are benefits to staying within the same block (for instance you could easily replace your 2x UCR411 with a single SRb, if you needed to go lightweight. Or you could bring just one UM400 and it would act as a spare emergency backup transmitter for either of your transmitters, if talent lost/broke one of them. But if you were using two different blocks, you'd need twice as many spare backups with you). If you've got a clean block, then you can fit a lot of channels within that block. (so long as you're being sensible and using frequency coordination, such as with FreqFinder) You're not going to get interference just because they're in the same block!

Have a look at the Deity SPD1: https://deitymic.com/products/spd-1/ It's what I'd go for if I needed to buy another BDS, and if/when I change over to eSmart batteries (I've been using BP-U60 batteries for years) then I will get the Deity SPD1. My second place choice would be the PSC PowerStar RF (would be first place choice if it supported eSmart telemetry and came in RF band which was just for the 600MHz, and now wider down into 470MHz): https://professionalsound.com/specs/PowerStar RF.html (edit: ah, I just saw the last post! You've got something now)

I am not a Sound Devices Wireless user, but I think the question of A20-TX vs A20-Mini comes down mostly to what type of work a person is doing. Work entirely in scripted drama where keeping hidden away audio gear is the most important? Then you might exclusively go with A20-Mini (perhaps a couple of A20-TX, but primarily only for the booms). But if you're working only in docos where what matters to you instead is long life and low stress (as you're juggling everything by yourself, not with a team to support you) then you might want to only exclusively use the A20-TX? While if your work needs are somewhere in between those extremes, you might want an 80/20 or 20/80 or 50/50 or whatever split of owning A20-TX vs A20-Mini transmitters. Keep in mind that the A20-BatteryDoubler exists: https://www.sounddevices.com/product/a20-batterydoubler/ Which "kinda" turns the A20-Mini into an A20-TX with longer battery life. (but with a somewhat different form factor still to the A20-TX, not as wide or tall, but fatter. Also, you still won't have phantom power) Another thing, is you can power the transmitters via USB. Not an ideal solution, but something else to keep in mind in a pinch, and is an option that some people have done (especially back before the BatteryDoubler was released).

They're barely cheaper at all than Sanken COS-11D lavs, so unless you're wanting them instead for some specific feature they offer, I don't understand why you wouldn't just buy a few more COS-11D lavs that will perfectly match up with all your existing lavs?

I agree with your conclusion that you should go for the Deity W.Lav Pro, especially as your existing COS11 accessories will in general be compatible with the Deity as well. OST have usually been the typical choice for "low budget" / hazard lavs, I've got a few myself. Maybe buy one of each to compare and see what you personally prefer the most yourself?

This. No matter what the brand, be it Deity or anybody else, then if a piece of complex hardware costs merely sub $200 to buy, then it would never ever make financial sense to repair it.

Would be worthwhile buying a RF Explorer, it can better help you understand the RF environment you're in. Also, how many channels were you using? Were you using proper frequency coordination such as with FreqFinder?

The MC41 cable is only for those mics which don't need phantom power, such as a NTG2 or ME66 with the K6 powering capsule. But any pro level mic is going to need phantom power. Before I upgraded this year to using Sony DWX digital wireless for my booms, then I was using the UM400 transmitters paired with one of my two Sound Devices MM1 preamps. (for this, you'll need the Lectrosonics MC35: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/348320-REG/Lectrosonics_MC35_XLR_Female_to_TA5_Female_Line.html Or similar, or make it yourself) Or use a UH400 , HM , or HMa transmitter from Lectrosonics.

If you're very price sensitive then you could track down the older Phonaks which used an induction loop, or get a new PSC earpiece which does the same thing: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/377563-REG/PSC_FPSC0037_Wireless_IFB_Inductive_Earpiece.html This is what I use myself, I have a couple of them which I got a few years ago. While I haven't been fortunate enough to try out the Halter Technic Microsone system, my impression though is that it would be a better choice, large thanks to not needing to make the talent wear two bodypacks! (one of the normal transmitters for their lav, plus also a receiver for the earpiece) Definitely this is the option I'd go for today if I did another shoot needing earpieces and they could cover the costs, and/or if I lost/broke my earpieces. If you're very very price sensitive, then consider the Bubblebee Sidekicks (they have a few different models, this is one of them): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1646110-REG/bubblebee_industries_bbi_sk3_m_c_sidekick_3_ifb_in_ear.html I worked on a netflix series which used these, because it was a whole band which needed earpieces so that they could act out playing together in time without any actual sounds being made (as of course, dialogue needed to be recorded too). But because the musical band is just in the background, with no close ups of them, then the Bubble Sidekicks worked perfectly fine! They could even work with closeups if you have say some hair or something which would hide them on the actor.

Karl for President! To protect our airwaves.

Crazy to think how old the original Lectro digital is!

I emailed them and got a reply back that it is going to have the option of a 50MHz window, so that's good news!

Anybody got any extra news about the Audio Wireless DT-BOOST 2 yet? Guessing it will be basically the same as their other products with a tunable filter, limited to 24MHz?

https://www.lectrosonics.com/phocadownload/700seriesman.pdf https://www.lectrosonics.com/phocadownload/um700td.pdf Sounds like they don't have any other compatibility modes available. Thus my guess is that the answer to your question is "no", based on reading the manuals.

Probably unlikely in the situations you're working on (it's only very low budget productions that would use HDMI instead of SDI). But it is always possible. One possible scenario is that your only option to get a feed is from a monitor that has spare HDMI output but not a SDI output (either because it's a cheap cheap monitor, with HDMI in/out and only SDI in, or more likely... they're already using that SDI output for their own purposes). Thus if you have an HDMI to SDI convertor, your day is saved. (it's a cheap convertor to buy anyway, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1607016-REG/blackmagic_design_convbdc_sdi_hdmi03g_micro_converter_bidirectional_sdi_hdmi.html )

Are custom frequency ranges the same price, or I'm guessing that's an even higher price? (if I for instance wanted 590MHz to 699MHz)

Lectro R1A receivers don't have different mode options (such as Mode 6), they're only ever in IFB Mode. I'd suggest just getting yourself a secondhand UM400/LMa/T4/T1 transmitter on the cheap. You will get better range too than with a G3 transmitter.

Am not Philip, but my guess and my reasons why are: a lot of these mixing boards also allow basic recording functionality as well (might not be all the full tracks, might be just the stereo mix) and it would be nice to have these with TC as an emergency backup recording to your main recorder (say with BoomRecorder).

I think that might never happen. Maybe not even ten years from now, when the 6 Series is even less popular (as we'll also have had ten years of inflation! $1K won't go far). Could only happen if someone reverse engineers the communication protocol of the CL12 so third party control surfaces can be used with the 6 Series instead.